Back in the summer of 2010 many will remember the controversy surrounding the iPhone 4 and the grip of death, which led to Apple offering customers a free iPhone 4 bumper to help levitate the problem, and it seems that the Samsung are looking to avoid a Galaxy S3 antennagate.
When the problem was first noticed on the iPhone 4 there were a number of users that reported having no problems at all, and Apple themselves argued that the problem affects all smartphones, but an article on Android Headlines is reporting that Samsung themselves are advising owners of the Galaxy S3 not to hold the handset to tightly at certain parts of it.
These areas of the device are where the handsets main antenna and GPS antenna are located, and below is a diagram from the manual for the Galaxy S3 showing users where the parts are positioned on the handset. It warns that users shouldn’t cover the GPS antenna when using features on the handset that rely on it as it could result in poor performance.
Samsung also warn that if users are experiencing sub-standard audio quality they are advised to make sure they “are not blocking the device’s internal antenna”. While the iPhone 4 antennagate scandal saw some users experiencing dropped calls more than usual, there is no suggestion that early adopters to the Samsung Galaxy S3 are experiencing the same issues.
At the time the late Steve Jobs was reportedly telling people that they were holding the phone wrong after a number of users emailed him to complain about the problem. It’s not really surprising that Samsung has offered this guidance in the manual for the Galaxy S3, as it is pretty obvious that if you hold any handset in a certain way it will block a signal reaching an internal antenna it won’t work as good as it should do.
Have you ever noticed any signal issues on your smartphone when holding it in a certain way?
